Video: Syrian TV reports that a British man and an American woman have been killed in the civil war, fighting for opposition forces

10.36pm BST

Summary

We're going to wrap up our Syrialive blog coverage for the day. Here's a summary of where things stand:

•The Local Coordination Committees activist group counts at least 163 people killed today in violence in Syria, including 66 in Aleppo, 56 in Damascus and its suburbs and 18 in Homs. The numbers could not be independently verified.

•Government forces backed by Hezbollah fighters claimed to have the upper hand in the battle for control of Qusair. Military analysts said that regime forces appear to have the stronger position countrywide, an assessment shared by US senator John McCain, who called for new heavy weaponry for the rebels. "There are going to be ups and downs in this fight," said the US state department.

•An American woman and a British man were confirmed to have been killed with at least eight others in Idlib province in a clash with government forces. It was unclear how long the two, who did not appear to be previously associated, had been in Syria or the nature of their activities there.

•Syrian troops attacked a convoy trying to evacuate wounded people, according to the Associated Pres. The state department said a "dire humanitarian situation" is unfolding in Qusair. The National Coalition called on aid groups to help evacuate more than 1,500 wounded civilians from Qusair and establish safe corridors to deliver medicine, blood and oxygen.

•Peace talks originally scheduled for next month in Geneva may be pushed back to July or later, US officials said. The US state department did not rule out including Iran in peace talks. The opposition National Coalition reiterated that it would not participate in talks and, separately, voted to expand its membership to 144 members.

•US secretary of state John Kerry criticized Russia's plan to sell anti-aircraft missiles to Syria, saying the move would not be "responsible" and would have a "profoundly negative impact." Meanwhile Moscow was working to close a deal to sell Syria 10 Mig warplanes.

• The Lebanese parliament voted to extend its own mandate until next year, pushing back elections originally scheduled for June. The legislature said political conditions were too turbulent and the security situation was too sensitive to hold an election.

10.02pm BST

The FBI questioned relatives of a 33-year-old Michigan mother killed during fighting in Syria after she took a previous trip to the Middle East a couple of years ago, family members told the Associated Press Friday:

Agents had asked why Nicole Lynn Mansfield traveled to Dubai for a few weeks, but family members said they did not know much about her trip, said Mansfield's aunt, Monica Mansfield-Speelman.

Mansfield first became interested in the Middle East after converting to Islam and marrying an Arab immigrant several years ago, her aunt said, but her family had lost touch with her in recent years and had no idea she had gone to Syria.

"We didn't know she was over there. We didn't know she was gone, but Nicole, she was known to take off like that," Mansfield-Speelman said. "She was a traveler, I guess you could say. She didn't stay in one place."

Family members said FBI agents visited them Thursday and informed them of Mansfield's death. Simon Shaykhet, an FBI spokesman in Detroit, said he could confirm agents spoke to Mansfield's family, but he declined further comment. [...]

She had been on the FBI's radar before she left for Syria, according to a law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official wasn't permitted to speak publicly about the investigation. The official did not elaborate and no further details were immediately available.

9.40pm BST

The AP has more from Senator John McCain on arming the rebels. McCain said he's confident the weapons would get into "the right hands":

"They just can't fight tanks with AK-47s," McCain said Friday in a telephone interview, referring to assault rifles....

"I'm confident that they could get the weapons into the right hands and there's no doubt that they need some kind of capability to reverse the battlefield situation, which right now is in favor of Assad," McCain said.

McCain said he spoke with Secretary of State John Kerry "a couple of times. It wasn't that I was hiding it from him; it just didn't seem to come up. I thought Burns was the right guy to go through. They were very important in the trip. We couldn't have done it without their cooperation."

Gen. Salim Idris, chief of the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army, accompanied McCain and they met with 19 battalion commanders.

Citing the photo of McCain's meeting, a Lebanese newspaper has reported that McCain unwittingly crossed paths with two men connected to a rebel group responsible for the kidnapping of 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims in 2012. McCain said one of the men he reportedly met with is dead and no one in his meeting was identified as the other.

"The people I met with and talked to directly were well-vetted. Their names and their duties were outlined to me. They came from all over Syria," he said.

9.06pm BST

Senator John McCain shares the view that regime forces are gaining the upper hand in Syria and urges arming the rebels with "ammunition and heavy weapons," the AP reports:

Sen John McCain spoke Friday, the day after he returned from an unannounced trip to Syria. McCain says the rebels need some kind of capability to reverse a battlefield situation that currently favors Assad's forces.[...]

In a telephone interview, McCain said he met with 19 battalion commanders. He says lethal aid could be provided to them.

9.04pm BST

Barbara Surk and Zeina Karam of the AP write that "the regime now clearly has the upper hand in a two-year civil war":

Military analysts and activists on the ground in Syria say that Assad's forces have shown renewed determination since roughly the beginning of April, moving to recapture areas that had long fallen to rebels. [...]

The army has also successfully pushed back rebels in some areas around the capital. According to residents, that's led to a decline in mortar shells on the city center that only few weeks ago were a daily occurrence.

"The army has broken the atmosphere of fear and terror inside Damascus that the rebels created by firing mortars," said Hisham Jaber, a retired Lebanese army general who heads the Middle East Center for Studies and Political Research in Beirut.

Jaber said troops have cleared up to 80 percent of the areas around Damascus in the past two months.

Equally important, he said, is the successful offensive the army is conducting in the area south of Damascus that links the capital with the Jordanian border.

Despite a surge in rebel advances near Jordan earlier this year, the government now appears to control much of Daraa province, an opposition stronghold south of Damascus and the birthplace of the uprising.

Experts say the defection rate from Assad's military has sharply dwindled by now, and he has more than made up for it with the help of paramilitary forces and Shiite fighters from Iraq and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

7.49pm BST

The Local Coordination Committees activist group reports that there have been 163 people killed in Syrian violence Friday, including 66 in Aleppo, 56 in Damascus and its suburbs and 18 in Homs. The numbers could not be independently verified.

7.37pm BST

US Secretary of state John Kerry has criticized Russia's plan to sell Syria anti-aircraft missiles, the New York Times reports:

“Whether it’s an old contract or not, it has a profoundly negative impact on the balance of interests and the stability of the region, and it does put Israel at risk,” Mr. Kerry said at the State Department, making his most pointed statement yet about Russia’s arming of the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.

“It is not in our judgment responsible because of the size of the weapon, the nature of the weapon and what it does to the region in terms of Israel’s security,” he said.

As concerns over the increasing violence in Lebanon escalate, Lebanese lawmakers agreed Friday to postpone June parliamentary elections until November 2014, due to 'political deadlock and the civil war in neighboring Syria.' Reuters reports:

'Even before violence escalated in Lebanon last week, politicians were deeply divided over changes to the electoral law and had already put the June poll date in serious doubt.

Agreement for an extension was reached as a battle took place on the Syrian-Lebanese border in which fighters from Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah political and militant movement have been openly involved. The fighting provoked clashes in Tripoli as gunmen for and against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad took to the streets.

The sense of drift over the election, coupled with the failure of prime minister designate Tammam Salam to form a government after two months of talks, has left a sense of political vacuum in a country struggling with economic slowdown and a refugee tide from Syria."

It was the first time parliament had extended its mandate since Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

"The US strongly regrets this decision to postpone Lebanon's electoral process," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said of the decision. "We have supported elections happening on time."

Multiple videos have been uploaded to YouTube today of a parliamentarian's car being pelted with tomatoes by protesters in Beirut angry with the decision.

Guardian Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts reports that peace talks scheduled to take place in Geneva next month may be postponed until later in the summer, 'but organisers remain "cautiously optimistic" about their outcome,' according to US sources:

...Diplomats in Washington remain hopeful that talks in Geneva will take place, albeit in late June, or more likely July or August, rather than early June as originally hoped.

"We hear everything they are saying but the opposition can't allow this process to be derailed," a senior US official told the Guardian. "We don't view what they say every day as the final determination."

Despite what they acknowledge has been a "very tough week", US officials say it will stick to its twin approach of hosting talks and providing non-lethal aid the rebels.

The increase in the size of the coalition to 114 members, including a number of liberal groups, is seen in Washington as a positive development because it increases the chance it will be able to speak as one in possible negotiations over a transition of power.

Nevertheless, the US State Department has not denied reports that its ambassador to Syria, who has been leading efforts to persuade the rebels to join talks in Geneva, has indicated he will be stepping down later this year. It is understood his departure has not been formally agreed and officials insist it does represent a "resignation".

"We have not yet determined that. ... Our expectation is not that we'll agree with everybody [who attends]. We have not made an evaluation of that."

"Iran has not played a constructive role," Psaki says.

6.33pm BST

Psaki is taking questions about how the rebels seem to be losing in Qusair.

"You've heard the secretary say there are going to be ups and downs in this fight," she says. "We believe in the will of the opposition."

Now a sharp line of questioning: Hezbollah is fighting al-Qaeda in Syria. Shouldn't you just let them "have it out"?

"I think that doesn't actually apply to the situation on the ground," Psaki says.

"The reality of the situation on the ground is that there are... many many many members of the moderate opposition involved in this."

6.26pm BST

Psaki says in Qusair there is a "dire humanitarian situation... there's trouble getting aid to the people there."

Question: Salam Idriss says there's immediate danger in Qusair and help is needed. What is the US doing?

A: "We have been working to provide aid to the SNC." Psaki mentions the easing of the EU arms embargo but doesn't have specifics on "what is happening on the ground."

6.25pm BST

A question about the Syrian National Coalition's announcement that it would not participate in peace talks.

Psaki flips the question to a statement of praise for the SNC. "We view the Syrian coalition's announcement that it has expanded ...to 114 members as a positive step," she says.

Psaki says the regime and opposition are "key components" to peace talks and that regional powers would participate as well. No mention of Iran.

A question about secretary of state John Kerry's statement that "a couple" Americans were fighting in Syria. How many Americans are in Syria fighting?

Psaki: "I don't have any specificity." She says she's not aware of any Americans killed in fighting in Syria.

6.18pm BST

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki is asked about the American woman killed in Idlib.

"We are in touch with the citizen's family. We are not able to confirm the death at this time in light of the security situation in Syria.

"We are working through our Czech protective power in Syria to obtain more information.

"Out of respect for the family, we don't have further details."

Question: Why can the FBI confirm the death and not the state department?

"Consular officials must positively identify a US citizen before we can confirm a death," she says.

Psaki says she's not sure how the FBI works.

6.13pm BST

Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, is asked about Nicole Mansfield and the potential for other Americans to pop up in Syria.

"If there are Americans that are contemplating a trip to Damascus, I'd encourage them to consult with the state department," Earnest says.

6.09pm BST

At the White House briefing, deputy press secretary Josh Earnest is asked whether the US sees any role at all for Bashar Assad in a prospective political transition in Syria.

Earnest doesn't answer directly, but says the administration has asked the Russians to help manage the lineup of Syrian government representatives who would appear at any peace talks.

"We have said that Assad must go and there is no future for him in Syria. That is the will of the Syrian people that they've made clear.

"In the context of these discussions, we've asked the Russians to show responsibility, to exercise their influence over the Assad regime to make sure that the negotiators that appear are empowered to negotiate" a full transition.

6.01pm BST

Israeli media reports that premier Binyamin Netanyahu told Russian president Vladimir Putin that Israel would destroy any S-300 anti-aircraft missiles delivered to Syria by the Russians.

To which Putin reportedly replied, why don't you buy them then?

The exchange reportedly came during a meeting between the leaders earlier this month in the Black Sea city of Sochi. The account comes from the Times of Israel reporting on a story in Maariv, the Hebrew-language daily:

Putin reportedly guaranteed that Assad wouldn’t transfer the S-300s to a third party, such as Hezbollah, and that should Israel strike such an arms convoy, Russia didn’t believe Syria would retaliate. Despite this, Netanyahu reportedly made clear that Israel was concerned over the deal in and of itself.

The Russian president was said to respond to Netanyahu saying that the deal had to go through, but hinted that Israel could prevent the transfer if it, or another entity, bought the missiles instead or “offered an alternative,” according to Maariv.

The Guardian's Vikram Dodd reports on British government concerns about UK citizens going to Syria to fight:

British counter-terrorism officials in the the security services and police have been concerned about UK citizens going out to Syria to fight, and then returning here radicalised, with experience of conflict and possibly even battlefield training.

It is estimated that scores of Britons have travelled to Syria in defiance of UK government advice not to go. A chunk of those would have gone for humanitarian reasons, but some are believed to have gone to fight.

One senior source said: "Some Britons have definitely gone to fight, there's no question about that. The concern is they get radicalised out there, get military training and come back to the UK."

"People are going out there. Some of it is jihadist in motivation, some is sectarian, part of a Sunni/Shia conflict, such as seen in Iraq." [...]

The source added even those Britons who have travelled to Syria for charitable reasons may face difficulties: "Some have gone out there on humanitarian convoys and not realised what they have gotten into."

5.42pm BST

Both the White House and state department have scheduled briefings to begin shortly. We'll see what the day's line out of Washington is on Syria.

In Kurdish areas, there seem to be new divisions within the Kurdish opposition, and we're starting to see backlash against the as-yet unchecked power of the PYD (the Syrian Democratic Party, which is affiliated with Turkey's terrorist PKK) in Kurdish-controlled territories.

Kurdish areas have always been viewed as more harmonious, but recently the PYD has begun locking up its detractors. It also squashed civilian protests earlier this year.

There's a general idea that the more than 15 Kurdish parties in Syria want an independent state; that's not necessarily the case, though at the beginning of the conflict I do think they hoped to federalize, to come out the other end of this with a greater degree of self-administration.

Syria Deeply founder Lara Setrakian answers a question here about which side has committed more atrocities.

Karen Leigh answers a question here about Nicole Mansfield, the American killed in Idlib.

And the Guardian's Dan Roberts answers a question here on the roles of Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Nicole Mansfield, the Flint, Michigan, native killed in Idlib, grew up Baptist in a General Motors household, the Detroit Free Press reports:

Her dad was a production worker at General Motors. Her parents divorced and Mansfield dropped out of high school after she got pregnant.

She later got a GED and attended Mott Community College, Carole Mansfield said. She worked as a home health care worker for about 10 years, helping elderly people.

Updated at 4.55pm BST

4.48pm BST

Days after the United States threw its support behind the easing of the EU arms embargo on Syria, secretary of state John Kerry and his German counterpart have criticized Russia for plans to send weapons to Syria. The Associated Press reports:

Secretary of State John Kerry says Russia's transfer of the S-300 missiles would be "not helpful" while Washington and Moscow try to get the Syrian government and opposition into peace negotiations. [...]After meeting Kerry [in Washington], German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Russia must not "endanger" peace talks. He called weapons deliveries to Assad "totally wrong."

The AP report also advises that the prospective Geneva peace talks, originally slated for June, have been delayed until July. Our Washington bureau has been working to confirm that report.

4.18pm BST

Our Q&A with Syria Deeply and Guardian journalists is happening right now – join us here.

3.48pm BST

Mona Mahmood has been speaking to Yasser Muhammed, an officer in the Syrian army, about the incident in which three foreigners including Briton Ali Almanasfi and American Nicole Mansfield were killed on Wednesday. He said:

There were 10 rebels in a car in west Idlib province. The British rebel, the US female rebel, another unknown body – we believe he is Canadian. His mobile was checked and many calls to Canada have been made on his mobile.

The others were Syrian rebels.

Their car was ambushed by the Syrian army and soon a big fight broke out between them and the Syrian army with guns and PKC [machine guns]. The fight lasted for more than an hour until they were all killed.

After checking their bodies and the cars, the Syrian soldiers found these foreign IDs for a British man and US woman.

3.32pm BST

Foreign Office confirms a Briton is dead

A Foreign Office spokesperson has confirmed that a Briton has been killed, but not confirmed his name. “We understand that a British National has been killed in Syria. Their family have been informed and we are providing consular assistance," the spokesperson said.

3.31pm BST

In Acton, west London, where Ali Almanasfi lived, Haroon Siddique reports that a police officer arrived at the block of flats and said of the family: "They're not going to come out at all." He asked journalists to refrain from blocking the entrance and knocking on the family's door or ringing their doorbell.

3.30pm BST

Shiv Malik has been speaking to Kusai Noah, Ali Almanasfi's brother-in-law. Noah said he was stunned about the news of Almanasfi's death. He said Ali Almanasfi's was the brother of his wife, Bushra Noah, and they knew nothing about what had happened to Almanasfi in Syria.

Making his way on to a flight back to Britain from Brussels, he said:

He [Almanasfi] didn't tell anyone that he'd gone.... We didn't know that he was going anywhere. He disappeared. We made a missing report for the police – this was a couple of months back.

This is a longer version of the report from Syrian TV discussing the deaths of Ali Almanasfi, Nicole Mansfield, and the third, unidentified person. WARNING: Their bodies are also shown. The newsreader reports (from 7min30sec):

In Idlib our armed forces ambushed a terrorist group near a canned food factory on Idlib Harim Road, killing three members of the group, including a woman that carried an American passport indicating that she was born in 1980, from the American state of Michigan.

The second terrorist was a Ali Almanasfi, a British national born in London in 1990.

No identification documents were found with the third [person].

Weapons, a computer and maps of military positions were found in their possession.

3.06pm BST

Haroon Siddique sends more from the building where Ali Manasfi lived in Acton, west London. A neighbour who did not want to be named said he had known Manasfi since he was a child, describing him as "a nice person", but he had not seen him for a few months.

He did not know where he had gone nor heard any of the reports about his death and said he was "surprised". "I don't know anything about this."

Another man, Hadi Salka, going into the block of flats wearing a Syrian independence flag badge, said he did not know the family. But he said of Manasfi: "It's a really great thing he's done. I wish I was there fighting with them."

2.46pm BST

Triana Lynn Mansfield also posted a message her mother Nicole Lynn Mansfield had written to her for her birthday in March:

Part of it reads:

March 19, 2013 marks the day you become and 'adult'. Thats only legally, because in my eyes you will always be my little girl. I love you, and although Ive pushed you out on your own, and Im sorry for that, I know very well you are capable. You are strong and beautiful and you can make it. Whatever you set your mind on, you can do it. And even though Im not around, never give up. The sky is not your limit-God is ever-expanding the universe so never limit yourself. Please never give up on life. Though things sucks at times, it WILL get better. Remember, once you've been kicked to the ground and are lying flat on your face, theres nowhere to go up up. No matter what you are told, never forget I love you. I had to do whats right for me-and I need you to do the same. I pray to God for you the most. Please be strong, take care, and become the beautiful woman I know your destined to be.

I love you my beautful baby girl.

Love always, Mom.

2.39pm BST

Haroon Siddique is in Acton, west London, at the building where Ali Almanasfi is believed to have lived. The woman at the flat who answered the buzzer told him: "We don't have anything to say at the moment. Sorry, we can't open the door," while a man going into the flat told him: "I can't talk; we've got the police in here."

Updated at 2.40pm BST

2.32pm BST

Here are two of the photographs Triana Lynn Mansfield posted publicly on Facebook in memory of her late mother, Nicole Mansfield, today.

I love you forever and always mom. I will never forget everything you taught me. I wish I could honor in some other way but I have no control what happens to you now. I will try to not give up on life even though I really want to. I just want to see your face, hear your voice, and touch your skin again. But I'll stay strong. And you will never be forgotten.

Guardian and Syria Deeply journalists will be online to answer your questions about recent developments in Syria today from 11am-12pm ET / 4-5pm BST. Click here to join the debate.

1.45pm BST

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGE. The website LiveLeak has photos it claims shows the bodies of the three foreigners killed on Wednesday. Two of the bodies are clearly men, and one of them may be Ali Almanasfi. The gender of the third body is not clear.

3.40pm update: Having seen further pictures of these bodies, I can confirm that the third body does seem to be that of Nicole Mansfield.

Updated at 3.41pm BST

1.31pm BST

Mona Mahmood has been speaking to Abu Hajer, a rebel commander with the Suqur Al-Sham brigade near Idlib. He gave an account of how Briton Ali Almanasfi, American Nicole Mansfield and a third foreigner were apparently killed in Idlib on Wednesday:

We'd been engaged in several shoot-outs with shabiha forces [militia loyal to Assad] in the area. We launched an attack against a government checkpoint and managed to kill several shabiha. Another group of rebels came from the Al-Akrad mountains in Lattakia to join us. They made a mistake. They wanted to avoid the centre of Idlib [controlled by government forces] and instead took a back route through the suburbs. But they didn't know there was a Syrian army checkpoint; they didn't get the information. The army shot up their car and the British guy was killed.

Updated at 2.01pm BST

1.14pm BST

In his interview yesterday, Bashar al-Assad opened up the prospect of fighting Israel in the Golan Heights, Syrian territory which Israel has occupied for 46 years.

“There’s an atmosphere of fear now,” a woman in the Golan tells my colleague Phoebe Greenwood. “Everyone is preparing for war.” Villages along the faultline in the Golan Heights are stockpiling food and medical supplies, Phoebe writes.

Summary

•A British man and an American woman have been killed fighting for the rebels in Idlib, northern Syria, according to Syrian state TV.

•The Briton’s passport was shown on screen, giving his name as Ali Almanasfi, 22, of London. The Foreign Office is looking into the claim but cannot verify it at present; neither can the Guardian.

•The family of American Nicole Lynn Mansfield confirmed that they had been told by the FBI that she had been shot dead by Syrian government forces. Mansfield was 33 and from Flint, Michigan. "I'm just devastated," her aunt, Monica Mansfield Speelman, told Reuters. "Evidently, she was fighting with opposition forces." Mansfield Speelman told the Detroit Free Press her niece had married an Arab immigrant several years ago, converted to Islam, divorced, and then two or three years ago moved to Dubai.

•A third westerner was also reported to have been killed; his or her nationality and name are unknown. Rami Abdul Rahman of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the trio had been ambushed in Idlib province, which is largely controlled by Syria's opposition. The Syrian government controls Idlib city. He told the Guardian: "These people got too close to some military bases near Idlib and were killed." He said it was unclear whether the trio were fighting with moderates or Islamists, but the Detroit Free Press reported Mansfield had been carrying the flag of the al-Nusra Front, the leading Islamist faction among the rebels. The Syrian TV footage showed a black VW Golf car riddled with bullets, in which the foreigners had apparently been travelling. It also said government forces had retrieved several Kalashnikovs. It showed a photo of what appeared to be the dead Briton, with dark hair and a short beard.

•In Qusair, the western city that is the scene of fierce fighting between the regime plus Hezbollah, and the rebels, Syrian troops have attacked a convoy trying to evacuate wounded people, according to the Associated Press and the British-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists in Syria. Thirty-three people have been killed across the country today, according to the Local Co-ordination Committees, an opposition group. Their figures cannot be verified because media access to Syria is limited.

•Russia is now finalising a deal to supply around 10 Mig warplanes to the Syrian government. Moscow's S-300 anti-aircraft missiles – which could potentially alter the balance of power between Syria, the rebels, and Israel – are now thought unlikely to be operational for a year. It emerged late yesterday that Bashar al-Assad had been misquoted when he was said to have claimed part of the missile system had already arrived. In fact he said: “All of our agreements with Russia will be implemented, some have been implemented during the past period and, together with the Russians, we will continue to implement these contracts in the future.” Yury Ushakov, an aide to Vladimir Putin, said "Russia doesn't foresee, as far as I know, signing any new [weapons] contracts [with Syria].”

•George Sabra, the acting president of the Syrian National Coalition, reiterated the opposition group’s refusal to participate in the planned Geneva II peace conference: “The Syrian Coalition will not participate in international conferences and will not support any efforts in light of Hezbollah and Iran’s militia’s invasion of Syria and the continuation of killing and attacks on civilians across Syria, in particular Qusair and Eastern Gouta.” It was the strongest statement yet from the rebels on the peace conference – but spokespeople for the Syrian opposition are so divided that this is likely to be far from the final word on the matter.

12.22pm BST

In Qusair, the western city that is the scene of fierce fighting between the regime plus Hezbollah, and the rebels, Syrian troops have attacked a convoy trying to evacuate wounded people, according to the Associated Press and the British-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists in Syria.

Qusair-based activist Hadi Abdullah described the attack to the Associated Press via Skype, saying it killed nine people and wounded many others. Abdullah said he was with the convoy evacuating scores of wounded people when troops started firing shells and machine guns, wounding about 80 people. "Women and children jumped out of the cars and started running in fear," Abdullah said.

The Observatory and Abdullah said that rebels from the northern province of Aleppo have managed to enter the rebel-held area of Qusair to help defend it against advancing government troops. Abdullah said. Several days ago rebel commanders issued a call on forces around the country to move on Qusair.

11.35am BST

Syrian TV broadcast this picture of the passport of the British man it says was killed fighting with the rebels.

His name is shown as Ali Almanasfi. The passport indicates he was born in London in June 1990.

Syrian TV reported that this British man, Ali Almanasfi, was killed fighting with rebels. Photograph: Reuters

Updated at 12.22pm BST

11.33am BST

Yury Ushakov, an aide to Vladimir Putin, has said "Russia doesn't foresee, as far as I know, signing any new [weapons] contracts [with Syria]," reports Alex Winning in Moscow. Russian officials have repeatedly emphasized that the contract to supply the Syrians with the S-300s was signed three years ago.

11.22am BST

Sana, the Syrian state news agency, has put out this transcript of Bashar al-Assad's interview with al-Manar TV yesterday, the one in which he discussed the Russian anti-aircraft missiles. It’s very interesting.

Assad is asked directly if the Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles are on their way to Damascus. “Is Syria now in possession of these missiles?” He replies”

It is not our policy to talk publicly about military issues in terms of what we possess or what we receive. As far as Russia is concerned, the contracts have nothing to do with the crisis. We have negotiated with them on different kinds of weapons for years, and Russia is committed to honouring these contracts. What I want to say is that neither [Binyamin] Netanyahu’s visit nor the crisis and the conditions surrounding it have influenced arms imports. All of our agreements with Russia will be implemented, some have been implemented during the past period and, together with the Russians, we will continue to implement these contracts in the future.

Assad says he believes the balance has tipped in their favour because public support for the rebels has faded because the public was “deceived”: “They were led to believe that there was a revolution against the failings of the state. This has changed; many individuals have left these terrorist groups and have returned to their normal lives.”

He plays down Hezbollah’s contribution to the war effort, calling it “a drop in the ocean compared to the number of Syrian soldiers fighting the terrorists”:

Logically speaking, if Hezbollah or the resistance wanted to defend Syria by sending fighters, how many could they send - a few hundred, a thousand or two? We are talking about a battle in which hundreds of thousands of Syrian troops are involved against tens of thousands of terrorists, if not more because of the constant flow of fighters from neighboring and foreign countries that support those terrorists.

Al-Manar’s reporter asks Assad why Syria did not respond to Israel’s recent attack on a target in Damascus – thought to be weapons bound for Hezbollah.

Assad: We have informed all the Arab and foreign parties - mostly foreign - that contacted us, that we will respond the next time ... If we want to respond to Israel, the response will be of strategic significance.

Al-Manar: How? By opening the Golan front, for instance?

Assad: This depends on public opinion, whether there is a consensus in support of the resistance or not. That’s the question … In fact, there is clear popular pressure to open the Golan front to resistance. This enthusiasm is also on the Arab level.

He says he backs the idea of a peace conference “in principle”:

Simply put, our only condition is that anything agreed upon in any meeting inside or outside the country, including the conference, is subject to the approval of the Syrian people through a popular referendum. This is the only condition.

And he says it is too early to discuss whether he will stand again as president when his term expires in 2014. “When the time comes, and I feel, through my meetings and interactions with the Syrian people, that there is a need and public desire for me to nominate myself, I will not hesitate. However, if I feel that the Syrian people do not want me to lead them, then naturally I will not put myself forward.”

Updated at 12.15pm BST

10.48am BST

Alex Winning in Moscow has been speaking to a Russian defence analyst, who says the new Mig warplanes to be sold to Syria are an updated, modernised version of the Migs that the Syrian military currently possesses.

“Evidently the Syrian government feels confident and wants to show that it’s buying modern weapons aimed at countering foreign aggression,” said Igor Korotchenko, editor of the National Defence magazine and a former defence ministry employee.

“Such warplanes aren’t used against rebels, because that would bring new sanctions against Syria," he claimed, although video footage is frequently posted purporting to show Migs bombing built-up urban areas.

"The war with the rebels is waged using infantry, Kalashnikov automatic rifles, tanks and armoured vehicles,” he said.

Korotchenko described the Mig 29MM2 as a multifunctional craft that can be used to attack targets on land and sea.

The analyst said that Bashar al-Assad’s father - the former president Hafez al-Assad - bought sufficient tanks, rifles and armoured vehicles that the current regime has no need for new purchases to wage war against the rebels.

“The Syrian government needs modern means of waging war, including S-300s, anti-missile systems and warplanes. These are essential if foreign powers such as the US and Britain impose a no-fly zone or launch airstrikes on Syria.”

Korotchenko also said it was highly unlikely Russia had already delivered shipments of S-300s to Syria, saying that the weapons are bulky and that US and Israeli intelligence would have easily spotted them using satellite observation. “You can’t hide S-300s in your pocket; if they had been delivered, western intelligence would have made an announcement.”

Updated at 10.48am BST

10.38am BST

Here is a brief clip from the Syrian TV report of the death of Nicole Lynn Mansfield, the American reportedly killed fighting with the rebels. The reporter says:

In Idlib our armed forces ambushed a terrorist group near a canned-food factory ... including a woman that carried an American passport indicating that she was born in 1980 in the American state of Michigan.

10.28am BST

Iran's Press TV has broadcast a dubbed English version of Bashar al-Assad's interview with al-Manar TV yesterday, the one in which he discussed the Russian anti-aircraft missiles. The Guardian cannot verify the translation.

Updated at 11.45am BST

10.15am BST

Yuri Ushakov, president Vladimir Putin's aide on foreign policy, has defended Russia's right to deliver weapons to the Syrian government and said the EU's decision to let its arms embargo on the rebels lapse would hurt efforts to organise a peace conference. Ushakov said the European decision was "not conducive to preparations for such an important international event" and that Russia would fulfil its arms contracts with the Syrian government, despite western criticism.

10.08am BST

Last month the most comprehensive study of European foreign fighters to date found that hundreds of Europeans had travelled to Syria since the start of the civil war to fight against Bashar al-Assad. A year-long survey by King's College of more than 200 martyrdom posts on jihadist-linked websites and hundreds of Arab and western press reports found that up to 600 individuals from 14 countries including the UK, Austria, Spain, Sweden and Germany, had taken part in the conflict since it began in 2011.

The largest contingent, the study found, came from the UK with estimates of fighters running between 28-134.

But European fighters made up only between 7% and 11% of the foreign contingent in Syria, which ranged between 2,000 and 5,500 people – itself a relatively small number of combatants.

9.58am BST

The Times has been speaking to Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the British-based monitoring organisation the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reports on Syria using a network of contacts on the ground, about the claims a British man has also been killed in Syria fighting with the rebels.

Rahman told the paper that the British man and the American Nicole Lynn Mansfield were taking photographs of military positions in Idlib province on Wednesday when they were ambushed by government troops.

“They were shot dead during an ambush in the Idlib region and the army found them with maps of military positions,” Rahman said.

A third westerner was with them, he said.

Syrian television named the British man and said he was born in London in 1990, the Times wrote.

A British doctor, Isa Abdur Rahman, was also killed in Idlib on Wednesday, but if the death of the British man fighting with the rebels is confirmed this would be the first person from the UK killed battling the Assad regime.

The FBI apparently confirmed to the family Syrian TV reports that Nicole Lynn Mansfield had been killed fighting in Idlib, in the north-west of the country near the Turkish border. The TV channel showed a photo of what it said was her driving licence, which the DFP reproduces. It shows a woman in a black headscarf and gives her address as being in Flint, Michigan.

The Syrian TV report referred to Mansfield as an extremist – rebels are routinely called terrorists by the Assad government and pro-Assad media – and said she had the flag of the al-Nusra Front, the leading Islamist faction among the rebels.

The paper reported that “government forces shot her dead along with her British companions”. The UK Foreign Office is looking into reports of one British death at the moment but cannot confirm them.

Mansfield’s aunt, Monica Mansfield Speelman, is quoted as saying of her neice’s death:

I’m sick over it. I didn’t think she was [a terrorist], but God only knows.

She said Mansfield had married an Arab immigrant several years ago, converted to Islam, divorced, and then two or three years ago moved to Dubai. The family did not know when or why she went to Syria, the paper said.

Russia is now finalising a deal to supply around 10 Mig warplanes to Syria, Interfax reports.

"A Syrian delegation is in Moscow working out the details of this contract," said Sergei Korotkov, the head of the Mig company.

9.20am BST

Alex Winning in Moscow reports:

Russia will only deliver the first shipment of S-300 missiles to Syria by the second quarter of next year, Russian media reported Friday, citing unidentified sources in the defence sector.

One of the sources told the Kommersant daily that according to contracts signed in 2010, Moscow will send six sets of the anti-aircraft missile systems to Damascus next year. Another source said it would take a further half a year for the Syrian military to be trained to put them to use.

The Vedomosti newspaper reported that Russia would send four S-300 weapons systems to Syria as part of a contract worth $1bn but that it wasn’t clear when the arms would arrive.

The S-300 contracts were signed roughly a year before civil unrest against Bashar Assad’s regime erupted in March 2011.

Russia’s foreign ministry has been reluctant to discuss an exact timeframe for the missile shipments. Earlier this week, deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said that he couldn’t confirm when the S-300s would arrive.

“I can only say that we won’t cancel the contracts,” Ryabkov said. Foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has been similarly reticent.

A foreign ministry spokesperson told the Guardian that the ministry was preparing to issue an official statement on the S-300 weapons deliveries but would not disclose when the statement would be released.

A representative of the Rosoboronexport arms exporter refused a request for comment.

9.13am BST

Summary

Good morning and welcome to the Middle East live blog. We’ll be covering events in the region live here throughout the day.

Here are this morning’s headlines:

Syria

•An American woman has been killed fighting for the opposition in Syria, her family have said. Nicole Lynn Mansfield, 33, from Flint, Michigan, was reportedly killed in Idlib. The FBI interviewed members of her family yesterday, the family said. The UK Foreign Office is also looking into reports that a Briton had also been killed in the same incident. The Foreign Office said it was aware of the claims but had had no verification of them, and was seeking information. "The UK has warned for some time against all travel to Syria,” a spokeswoman said. Britain has withdrawn all diplomats from Syria amid the escalating civil war.

•Bashar al-Assad has said Russia will deliver S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Syria, but refused to confirm whether or not Moscow had already begun to deliver them. Assad’s statements in an interview with Lebanon’s al-Manar TV channel followed a day of confusion in western capitals after an early excerpt of the interview appeared to suggest Assad was saying the missiles had already arrived. Senior Israeli figures signalled the possibility that Israel could in future launch a pre-emptive attack on Syria with a view to destroying the S-300s, which it sees as an existential threat. In his interview, Assad warned that Damascus would retaliate immediately if Israel struck Syria again, and raised the prospect of opening a new front against the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

•Syria's new anti-aircraft missile system will have a "game-changing" effect on the regime's defence capabilities, and pose a serious military threat to any hostile aircraft, defence analysts say.Luke Harding has the full details here.

The advances of the Lebanese Shia militia have been met with desperate attempts by rebel groups across Syria and in Lebanon to reinforce their besieged colleagues, almost all of them Sunni Muslims. In the process, the civil war is rapidly transforming into a proxy conflict whose battle lines are manned by members of opposing sects, vowing to fight each other to the end …

Lebanese leaders – who bow to the group in the face of its political and military power, which heavily outguns Lebanon's own military – have been reluctant to address Hezbollah's role in Syria, one of the biggest moves made by the group in its 30-year existence. However, President Michel Suleiman on Thursday delivered a veiled rebuke to the militia's leader: "I wish Hezbollah chief Nasrallah would not involve the resistance in Syria's war," he said. "It is the resistance of Lebanon and not of Syria. I hope Nasrallah abides by this."

•George Sabra, the acting president of the Syrian National Coalition opposition group, put out a statement calling on the Red Cross, Red Crescent, and other international organisations to help evacuate more than 1,500 wounded civilians from Qusair and establish safe corridors to deliver medicine, blood and oxygen. And he urged the UN and Arab League to “act immediately to halt Syrian bloodshed and put an end to the massacres committed by Assad”. He also reminded Suleiman that “a party in [the Lebanese] parliament, Hezbollah, is responsible for perpetrating war crimes against innocent Syrians”. Qusair – which can be seen on this map (yellow pin) – is north of Damascus near the Lebanese border, and about half way from the capital to Lattakia, the Assad regime’s stronghold on the coast.

• In Sabra’s statement, the SNC leader reiterated the opposition group’s refusal to participate in the planned Geneva II peace conference: “The Syrian Coalition will not participate in international conferences and will not support any efforts in light of Hezbollah and Iran’s militia’s invasion of Syria and the continuation of killing and attacks on civilians across Syria, in particular Qusair and Eastern Gouta.” He said the battle for Qusair had “dampened the ideas around international conferences and political solutions to the situation in Syria. It is difficult to continue when Syrians are constantly being hammered by the Assad regime with the help of outside forces like Iran and Russia.” Britain and France – which this week forced the EU to lift its arms embargo on the rebels – appear to have bet everything on the peace conference, writes Peter Beaumont, he stumbling blocks of which seem no different to those encountered at the first Geneva conference.

In the interim, not only has the Syrian National Coalition – backed by the west as the vehicle for representing the opposition's demands – failed to become more representative and relevant, it has become farcically less so. The SNC's latest preconditions for even participating in the talks make it likely that it will be this western-backed opposition that will torpedo Geneva II at this rate even as the Assad regime confirmed it would send representatives, which would be an own goal of spectacular proportions.

Perhaps it should not be surprising. Inherent in the British strategy of offering the prospect of arms to the "right" and vetted rebels was the risk that even such a vague promise would be a strong disincentive to negotiate.

•Nineteen people have been killed in fighting across Syria so far today, according to the Local Co-ordination Committees opposition group. The group said that yesterday 118 people were killed, including 45 in Damascus and its suburbs, and 23 in Aleppo. Its figures cannot be verified because media access to Syria is limited.